Wild flowers of ideas, bees buzzing among them make the honey of art.
Yes, 'Meadow' is the only name she has ever given me. I must say it seems fitting because she has always reminded me of a meadow in bloom, filled with ideas and energy made of wild flowers and the bees that buzz among them. Meadow has been a community oriented artist and arts organizer all of her life, from teaching at a college level in several disciplines, to running an artist loft community in NYC and lots else in between. Like many members of the #GOSTartists she has added her experience and enthusiasm for bringing art out of the studio and into the world through her participation with the #GOSTdoors, numerous other group exhibitions put on by the Gardiner Open Studio Tour, and by running an Artist Salon at the Pine Bush Library for several years. The Salon has provided a forum for the community to meet with area artists and hear about their work, their medium and what makes being an artist so interesting both for the artist and for the art appreciating public. -- JP
Keeping Up With Meadow!
By: Mike Bingham
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| Lucille from Meadow's Boid series. |
It’s my privilege to provide a brief GOST artist narrative for Meadow, as a representative of Kiss My Face (a GOST sponsor), sharing what I’ve come to know of Meadow’s artistic history & prowess as a tenant of 3 1/2 years at her Woodrock Studios complex.
.....Mike Bingham
Meadow is one of those unique artists who is always great at any art media she touches! Which is a good thing since, as a mixed-media artist, she switches gears often! She is frequently found working on multiple two-dimensional and three-dimensional projects at the same time. Claiming to get bored or stale if she stays with one medium to long, she relishes in the challenge of something new. She says, “It keeps me excited and my blood flowing... I love the angst of a blank slate.”
Meadow usually produces her art in a series. She’ll work a particular idea through within one medium, constructing anywhere from 6-20 pieces before she feels like she’s producing a product or just repeating herself. For Meadow, switching mediums or being asked to participate in a new themed show is like stepping up to the batter’s plate... “You never know what will come at you or what the results will be!”
Meadow does sometimes return to explore past series to create a new work. However, the new work always has a little different slant and tone... be that an updated version, or an extension of the precious thematic work. Clay is a medium within which Meadow has worked for almost 60 years. Her work ranges significantly from eight-foot sculptures to two inch “Little Littles” and everything in between. She always seems to return to it as she finds it to be very grounding and forgiving... “You can make almost anything with clay.”
A recent revival from the past is her production of two large Wood Spirit Series installations for the Samuel Dorsky Museum “Hudson Valley Artist’s Show.” For this artistic endeavor, Meadow used the wood from a black walnut tree she had to take down, as it was too close to her house. She was able to use up most of the tiny limbs, small branches and logs that would normally just become firewood. In her reincarnation of the tree, she was honoring her passionate feelings and connection to trees... and particularly that tree that has graced the grounds of Woodrock for over 25 years.
Meadow has lots of “next batter-up artistic activities planned and underway. First up will be using her Boid Series to create a painted door, that will be displayed in Gardiner, as part of the live-advertising for the upcoming Gardiner Open Studio Tour, (GOST)... followed by new pieces from her Heritage Ceramics Series, also for the GOST event coming up at the end of April.
And right after that, she’ll be installing a large piece from the Written Word Series for the Hebrew Museum, as a featured artist in their new exhibition “Numbers”. In between all this she is mounting a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to self-publish the children’s books she has been writing for years. There seems to be no end to the creative ability and stamina that Meadow is able to sustain. It’s pretty amazing! You go Girl!!
